美国国家公共电台 NPR Can Groups Sue Over Trump's Business Conflicts Even If They Weren't Harmed?

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

On Monday, a team of ethics¹ lawyers and legal scholars filed suit claiming that President Trump²'s many foreign business dealings violate the Constitution.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

They cite the Emoluments⁴ Clause, a provision in the Constitution that bars presidents from accepting gifts or money from foreign governments.

GREENE: Of course, one big question courts will have to decide is not actually about the merits of the case here but rather just who has the legal standing⁵ to challenge the president in court. Here's NPR's Jim Zarroli.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE⁶: It is a fundamental concept in the law. If you want to sue someone successfully, you have to prove first that you've been hurt by them. Michael McConnell is a professor at Stanford Law School.

MICHAEL MCCONNELL: If your neighbor is hit by a car, you may be outraged⁷, you may think he ought to sue, but you can't sue on his behalf. He's the only one who can sue.

ZARROLI: In recent years, the Supreme⁸ Court has become a lot stricter about determining whether a plaintiff in a suit has the standing to sue. And so the group now suing Trump, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - or CREW - has to show how it has been damaged by Trump's conflicts. CREW has done this by arguing that it's had to put extra time and resources into publicizing and opposing Trump's actions. One of the lawyers arguing the case, Deepak Gupta, says CREW needs to be looked at like a business whose product is ethics reports and commentary.

DEEPAK GUPTA: Because of Donald Trump's unprecedented⁹ conflicts of interest, the cost to produce that product has gone up. The resources had to shift away from the business that they engage in typically, and that affects them.

ZARROLI: Gupta says there's precedent¹⁰ for this argument. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that a housing advocacy group could sue a real estate firm because it was consuming its resources by discriminating¹¹ against tenants¹². Still, Stanford's Michael McConnell thinks CREW's argument is a stretch.

MCCONNELL: This is not even a close case of standing. An organization doesn't have standing because it chooses to throw resources into an issue. If that were true, anyone would have standing to challenge anything.

ZARROLI: If CREW doesn't have the standing to sue the president over his conflicts of interest, then who does? One possibility is Trump's business competitors. A hotel could argue that it's being hurt because its customers are switching to Trump properties to curry¹³ favor with the president. And CREW has already heard from some Trump competitors who say that's happening, Gupta says.

GUPTA: And we are considering very carefully the potential claims that those people have.

ZARROLI: Or the courts could decide that nobody really has the standing to sue the president and that it's ultimately up to Congress to decide if the president's conflicts are a problem. Jonathan Adler, professor of law at Case Western Reserve University, says, in that case, the primary mechanism¹⁴ for dealing³ with the problem is impeachment¹⁵.

JONATHAN ADLER: It's obviously something that's unlikely when Congress is controlled by the same party, but that is the structure.

ZARROLI: In the meantime, the plaintiffs in this week's lawsuit¹⁶ are hoping to convince the courts they have the standing to challenge the president. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF MATT JORGENSEN'S "SPACE, PLANE AND LINE")

1 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 emoluments   

n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The emoluments of this profession is not satisfactory. 此行业的报酬不令人满意。 来自辞典例句
• Emoluments connected with this position include free education for the children. 与这职务有关的酬劳包括为子女提供免费教育。 来自互联网

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

11 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

12 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

13 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

14 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

15 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

16 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。